Clippers president Andy Roeser taking indefinite leave of absence

Los Angeles Clippers president Andy Roeser, seen after appearing on the team’s behalf when it won the NBA draft lottery in 2009, will take an indefinite leave of absence, the NBA said. (Bill Kostroun/The Associated Press)

Longtime Clippers president Andy Roeser will take an indefinite leave of absence, effective immediately, the NBA announced Tuesday.

Roeser took over the franchise’s day-to-day operations after owner Donald Sterling was banned for life last week, though Roeser would have had to answer to a new CEO.

“This will provide an opportunity for a new CEO to begin on a clean slate and for the team to stabilize under difficult circumstances,” Mike Bass, the NBA executive vice president of communications, said in a statement.

Sterling was banned for life from the NBA and fined $2.5 million last week for making racist remarks caught on audio tape that were released by TMZ.

Roeser’s name was attached to a press release that questioned the veracity of the audio capturing Sterling’s comments.

Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said Tuesday in Oklahoma City that Roeser being linked to the statement defending Sterling was upsetting.

“Yeah, I think that rubbed a lot of people the wrong way,” Rivers said. “And Andy right away said that was the wrong statement, so he apologized for that and then we moved on.”

When asked if Roeser’s leave of absence was necessary, Rivers said: “I don’t know, I don’t know. I don’t really have a comment on that yet, so we’re just going to keep moving forward.”

Nevertheless, the news Tuesday did take Rivers by surprise.

“Yeah, yeah, it does. And I didn’t know it. I knew they were going to bring a new CEO in eventually, but it does,” said Rivers, whose team has a 1-0 lead over the Thunder in their best-of-seven series after Monday night’s 122-105 victory.

“I mean, I just didn’t know about it. And I’m glad that I didn’t know about it, honestly. I think the NBA is doing their job and we’re just trying to keep this thing together.”

After play-by-play broadcaster Ralph Lawler, Roeser is the second-longest tenured member of the franchise. Roeser became executive vice president in 1984 after the Clippers moved from San Diego. He was promoted to team president in 1986.

The Long Beach resident was also the team’s alternate governor, representing it in league matters.

Despite being in charge of the team’s business operations, Roeser had worked mostly behind the scenes and often was involved in negotiating players’ contracts. He took on a significantly more visible role when he represented the Clippers at the 2009 NBA draft lottery. The Clippers won the first pick, which they used to select star forward Blake Griffin.

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Rivers, who is also the team’s senior vice president of basketball operations, conceded Tuesday he isn’t sure who his boss is at this point.

“Don’t know yet. So I’ll have to find that out today. ... I mean, honestly, the way we’ve worked, that’s how they have allowed me to work for the most part anyway, so that hasn’t been a big change,” Rivers said. “Andy, he basically let me do what I needed to do. I would have to call him every once in a while about stuff. So it’s nothing big. In the next couple of weeks it’s going to have to be decided anyway and I think the league probably understands that.”